Whoever thought a “grilled” chicken parmesan would grace my kitchen table? Well, this is one of those last-minute dishes that just sort of “happened”. My youngest gal loves chicken parmesan. (She especially loves Ms. Daniella’s chicken parmesan!) However, Suzie Q is wheat intolerant and I was fresh out of wheat-free bread crumbs. Not to mention it was hotter than Hades in my house and cooking stove top just wasn’t an option.
Hold the phone! I had a light bulb moment. Why not grill the chicken and assemble it as I would a chicken parmesan? Serve it over Suzie Q’s wheat free pasta with her favorite sauce and voila! Grilled Chicken Parmesan!
It’s amazing what we Mom’s come up with just to make our kids happy. Tasty, simple and made one little gal feel like she wasn’t missing out on a thing. A delicious comfort meal in the middle of summer! Or what I’ve dubbed… summer comfort. 🙂
Grilled Chicken Parmesan
If summer’s passed by and it’s middle of winter, I pan sear the chicken instead of putting on my rain gear for grilling.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4-6 organic free range boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if you’d like to marinate the chicken, use an Italian dressing or a simple olive oil and red wine vinaigrette, this will keep the chicken moist during grilling) Or, pound out the chicken into thin cutlets. This works too.
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
8 fresh basil leaves
4 slices whole milk mozzarella
Your favorite tomato sauce (I’ve included my recipe just in case you’d like to make your own sauce)
Prepared Pasta of your choice (we love spaghetti or penne with chicken parmesan)
Directions
Preheat the grill to 375F.
If you haven’t marinated the chicken breasts, gently pound down your chicken breasts so they cook a little faster and stay tender during cooking. Brush each chicken breast with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Grill the chicken breasts over medium heat, turning as needed. Just before the chicken is done, at about 155-160F, place 2 basil leaves on each chicken breast and top with a slice of fresh mozzarella. Close the lid of the grill and let the chicken finish cooking and cheese melt a bit.
It should take just a few minutes for the chicken to reach 165F, and then transfer the chicken to a platter and let them rest for 3-5 minutes to allow all the delicious juices to re-distribute through the chicken.
To Serve: Place a mound of pasta on a plate, top with a piece of grilled chicken and ladle tomato sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh grated parmesan and chopped Italian parsley.
Bon Appetito!
Simple Tomato Gravy
1 28oz can tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes for a chunkier sauce), I like Muir Glen Organic
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 tsp dried oregano (or ½ tsp fresh chopped oregano)
1 tsp tomato paste
Pinch of red pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup water (keep on hand to thin out sauce)
Directions
Heat a sauce pan on medium heat and sauté the onions. When the onions have become translucent, add the garlic and sauté just until fragrant. Do not brown the garlic as it will taste bitter. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
Add the tomatoes, oregano, tomato paste and red pepper. Mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer. Add about 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Let the sauce simmer for about 5-10 minutes. If the sauce appears to think, add about ¼ cup of water at a time to thin the sauce. Taste for seasoning.
A few tips: If your sauce tastes a little to “bright” or has too much acidity, try adding a pat of butter to your sauce to mellow out the acid.
This looks delicious Karista. I think I will make this for dinner tonight. I have one of those rare occasions when I have all the ingred. in my fridge! Yum!!
I love it when that happens! Hope you enjoyed the recipe!
im going to make this for my family tonight only a litttle different than your recipe.(hope you dont mind:D)i first cut up the chicken in bite size pieces and am marinating them as we speak with a zesty italian dressing. later on i plan on grilling them stovetop but ive never made this before so im not sure if i should add the mozzerella cheese right before its done in the pan or afterwards when im ready to put it all together on plates.im very interested in seeing how this turns out and to get your imput.
Hi Kirsten, I usually place a little mozz on top of the chicken just as it’s finishing up grilling, so it gets a little melted. Or, once you’ve grilled your chicken, put the chicken on an ovenproof platter or baking dish and layer the mozz on top and pop it in the oven to melt. Hope this helps!
Saw this one pop up (in my email tab) I love the idea of a crumbles Chicken Parmesan, (namely cause) I can’t stand it when the bread crumbs go soggy with the sauce and cheese! can’t sympathise cause I’m not a mum, but I go know what it’s like when (someone) in the house is craving something on a whim, ooo, choc cookies, ooo mac n cheese, lol. Did I mention that someone isn’t me!!! Funnier if it was though!
I so agree! I never can stand it when the bread coating on chicken parm gets soggy and then falls off the chicken. LOL! And we have chocolate cookie cravings all the time in this house. 🙂 Have a great week and best of luck in your classes.
Thanks Karista! I’m sporting an injury form my exam, ie cut finger lol! Won’t stop me making it through tomorrow and Thursdya though 🙂
I’m yet to get into the ABC’s amongst a couple of other nominations but once Easter weekend is here I’ll have some brainstorming to do!!! Promise!
Love the look of this – sounds perfect for a family mid-week supper!
I made this for supper earlier in the week, with spring greens instead of pasta, and it was absolutely delicious. Marinading the chicken before grilling is a great tip – the meat was beautifully succulent. Thanks so much for posting – will be making this dish again and again!
Yay! I love that your family loved the recipe. 🙂
I love everything about this dish, Karista! This is definitely on my to try list. Such a beautiful dish and I must try your tomato gravy, too! You’ve dropped off my email list and my reader, I’m going to resubscribe because the only way I’ve seen your post for weeks now has been if I caught them in the newsfeed on Facebook! What up with that?
Duh…I just realized this post was from 2010…okay, that explains a lot, lol.
Hahaha!! I just thought you didn’t get my latest post. Yep, this is an oldie and a goodie. 🙂
Wow, that’s weird. I’ve know that’s happened to others as well. I’m still getting yours. And thanks! I hope you like it. It’s a staple recipe at my house. 🙂
I’ve noticed it almost always happens when someone changes their site from wordpress free to wordpress self hosted, but I’d already re-followed and resubscribed once to you. Anyway, it says I’m following you now! 🙂
LOL, Great! Hope you’re doing well. Happy Friday!
Amazing! I’ve actually been craving this the last couple of days!
Hope you like it! My simple and quick version without the frying 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!